Combined knife and fork | Wellcome Images

Eating a meal using only one hand can be difficult. The design of this combined knife and fork is known as a Nelson pattern, named after Horatio Nelson (1758-1805), the British naval hero who lost an arm during the Battle of the Nile in 1798. He was presented with a similar knife made from gold.

This silver plated knife dates from the First World War. Many of the thousands of arm amputees from that conflict were issued with these Nelson knives as part of their rehabilitation. A simple but highly effective design, Nelson knives are still available today.

About Fionnuala Barrett

I am a master's student of nineteenth-century English literature at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford.
For the WW1C project I have been overseeing the @Arras95 live-tweeting project, as well as researching resources to add to the project library.